Bulldozer
by robotsandblankets
Summary: Henry can see the changes. It's almost impossible for someone not to see them, even Jasper notices. She's constantly distracted. She's not eating. Her attitude is off. Henry wants to help her, but there's a problem. Charlotte will not ask for it.
1. Chapter 1

I look up from my phone just in time to see Charlotte walking into the school. Her hands were on her backpack's straps and her head was down.

"Char," I yell her name.

She looks up instantly, looking a bit startled. She sees me, smiles, and walks to me.

"Hey Hen," She greets me. She leans against the locker beside mine and yawns. She closes her eyes and puts her head on it.

I smile and laugh a little. "Did you get any sleep last night?"

With her eyes still closed, she shakes her head. "No, I was up most of the night."

I grab my English binder and shut my locker. "What were you doing?"

There was an electronic _ding_. We check our phones. It was Charlotte's phone.

"Uh," While looking at her screen, Charlotte walks pass me to her locker. I follow her. "I was talking to someone."

She types on the phone then puts it in her pocket.

She opens the locker, looking for her English binder.

"Ooo," I say smiling and poking her right arm. "Was it a boy?"

Charlotte smiles, something in my chest warms up, and shakes her head. "No. It was not a boy."

We turn to walk to our first block's room.

"Oh," I nod. "Charlotte, I never knew you like girls like that. Why didn't you just tell me?"

Charlotte looks up at me and gasps. She shoves me. "Henry, it was not a romantic conversation I was having!"

I laugh and fall back into sync with her. "I'm only kidding, Char."

She rolls her eyes and looks forward.

I nudge her a little with my elbow. "Really, though. Who were you talking to?"

She shrugs. "It doesn't matter." She passes and walks ahead into the classroom.

I stand there for a second and think.

What if she was speaking to a boy?

What if it's a boy she possibly likes?

What if-Henry, stop! You'll just make yourself mad if you think about this too much.

* * *

Do you ever find yourself suddenly noticing things about people and you can't just stop noticing it because it's all you think about now?

I look at Charlotte, who was on her phone, not eating her food, and not participating in conversation. Every few seconds she'd look from her phone, move the food around with her fork, and then bring the hand back to the phone. Is she talking to the person she was talking to last night? How did she meet this person?

"Are you going to eat that?" Jasper asks pointing to Charlotte's lunch tray.

She finally looks from her phone to the tray. She frantically looks at everything before answering. She seems to calm and looks at Jasper.

"No, you can have it all."

"Woo!" Jasper celebrates, pulling the tray closer to him.

"Charlotte," She looks at me. "Are you okay?"

She nods. "Yeah, I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be okay?"

I nod towards the lunch tray. "Well you didn't eat anything."

"I'm just not hungry." She shrugs and returns to her phone.

Huh.

* * *

"Charlotte, why is your phone continuously buzzing?" Ray asks. He was sitting at the round table playing a board game with me.

It's true for the pass five minutes; Charlotte's phone has been buzzing and buzzing and buzzing.

"Sorry," She says picking the phone up. She types a few things. Then she gasps.

Ray and I stand up and walk towards her.

"Did something pop up?" Ray asks quickly. "Is someone running wild among the streets?"

He is getting restless. He really needs some super hero action.

"N-no," Charlotte pushes herself away from the computer table and stands up.

"Hey, where are you going?" I ask her.

"G-going to the restr-room," Her voice was shaking.

Why was her voice shaking?

"Is she crying?" Ray asks looking in the direction that she walked in.

"M-maybe," I cross my arms and scrunch my eyebrows.

Why would she be crying? Is someone making her cry? Who would try to hurt Charlotte?

* * *

I knock on the bathroom's door.

"Char," I try to make my voice quiet but loud enough to hear. "Char, are you okay?"

I hear a sniffle. "I'm okay, Henry."

"You don't sound okay."

She doesn't say anything. The only response is her sniffles.

"Charlotte, tell me what's wrong and I can fix it."

She chuckles a little. "Henry, you can't fix everything."

"Well instead do you want to watch _Hairspray_?" I ask. "I'll even sing the songs with you."

"Yeah," She says.

I hear her move to the door and take a deep breath in. She opens it and looks at me. She smiles.

"Are you sure you are okay?"

I lower my head a bit to keep eye contact. Her eyes were red.

She nods. "Let's go watch the movie."

She walks by and I follow her.

* * *

"Why do you have red stuff on your lips, Charlotte?" Jasper asks.

We were standing at my locker. Jasper and Charlotte were waiting for me to put my stuff in it. I look over. Charlotte does have red bits of stuff on her lips.

"Yeah, what is that?" I ask.

"What?" She wipes her hand across her lips and then looks at it. "Oh, that's my nail polish."

"How did it get on your lips?" Jasper asks.

She looks at her hand, her finger nails. "I was biting on my nails."

"That's gross, Charlotte. You shouldn't do that." Jasper says in a disgusted tone.

Charlotte rolls her eyes and puts her hands on her hips. "Says the boy that still picks his nose and eats it!"

Jasper puts his finger up. "No! That was one time and one time only."

"I saw you do that twice this week already, nasty boy!"

"Okay, guys, let's stop talking about our disgusting habits and go get some lunch." I say putting my hands up and looking at both of my friends.

"Fine," Jasper says as he begins walking. "But Charlotte is still gross."

Charlotte rolls her eyes and starts walking away. "I'm going to the restroom. I'll be out there in a second."

I nod at her and catch up to Jasper.

"Hey Jasp,"

"What?"

"Have you been noticing anything strange going on with Charlotte lately?"

Jasper thinks for a second. "Sure, I guess. But Charlotte is just a strange girl, too."

"Well you have all your classes with her, so you'd know more."

"Well she has been biting her fingers nails a lot, and I've been teasing her about it." He shrugs. "Maybe the school nerves are just getting to her."

"Maybe,"

* * *

Charlotte and I are sitting at the round table in the Man Cave doing homework.

I pick my phone up to look at the time. 6:15. I guess I won't make it in time for dinner.

I lean back. "I'm hungry."

Ray turns around in the chair at the computer desk. "Me too," He stands up and walks to the food creator. "What do you want, Henry?"

"Something with noodles," I say turning and putting my chin on the back of the couch thing.

"Okay," Ray says. He says something into the microphone and a noodle dish pops out. "Charlotte, what do you want?"

"I'm not hungry." She says continuing to write on her paper.

I turn back to her with a look of disbelieve. "That's a lie."

She looks up at me, confused. "What?"

"You have to be hungry. You didn't eat lunch today. You didn't eat breakfast either. I'm pretty sure you didn't eat dinner either last night."

"You don't know that."

"Did you?" I raise my eyebrows and my voice.

She stares into my eyes with such strong power. But it softens. "No, I did not."

"What are you trying to do to yourself?" I ask her completely turning around to face her. I couldn't help that my voice was getting louder and angrier.

"Nothing," Her voice was beginning to sound venomous.

"So by not eating, you are doing nothing to your body. Charlotte, you're basically starving yourself."

"No, I am not!"

"Yes, you are. Why can't you just eat?!"

"I don't want to!"

"That's not a good enough answer!"

"Well I shouldn't have to answer to you anyway!"

"Woah, woah," Ray walks up to the couch with his hands up. "Let's come down and breathe for a second."

I look away from Charlotte to the table. I didn't mean to get angry with her. But why wouldn't she just eat? Wait, what if-

"I'm going home."

Charlotte stands up, picking her book up, and taking her bag to the elevator.

"Now Charlotte, wait, let's talk about this." Ray says.

She turns around. "I don't want to talk about this. There is nothing to talk about." And then she's gone.

I sit there for a couple seconds, not really thinking about anything.

"R-Ray, do you think she is actually starving herself?" I ask while looking towards him.

"I don't know, Henry." He says.

"Why would she do that?" I ask standing and getting my food.

Ray orders himself something. We sit at the round table.

"Maybe to lose weight," Ray was looking at the table mostly.

"Why?" I fork the noodles up. "She's already so small. If she lost weight she'd be a walking skeleton, she probably couldn't even stand up."

"Maybe she doesn't see it that way,"

"Well why would she suddenly change the way she thinks about herself?"

"Someone made her." He puts a piece of broccoli in his mouth.

"By bullying her?"

He nods.

"If she was being bullied, she'd come to me." I pause for a second to put food in my mouth. "Right?"

Ray shrugs. "Maybe she's embarrassed, maybe she's thinks what they say is true."

* * *

 **Please review, follow, and/or favorite.**

 **Right now, I'm just testing the waters with this story.**

 **I'm waiting for feed back, and if it's good, I'll continue the story.**

 **But now, it's just a maybe.**

 **Thank you for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

I look at my phone for the millionth time.

No messages, or should I say, no replies.

I've texted Charlotte at least twenty times this morning; I'm not even going to bother to try and count last nights' texts. I've even tried to call her, but she just forwards me to voicemail.

I have messed up big time.

But it's not my fault I got angry. I just don't want her to purposely hurt herself. Is that too much to ask of a person?

I enter the school and quickly scan the main room.

I see Oliver. I see Bianca, who waves at me. I decide to ignore her for the moment. I see-Charlotte!

I run over to her, she's standing in front of her locker.

"Charlotte,"

She doesn't turn around. She doesn't even acknowledge me.

"Char, I'm sorry."

I see her shoulders relax.

"I shouldn't have yelled at you. I shouldn't have gotten into your business. I should just stay in my business and only my business. Also if you are still mad at me, I got you these."

Charlottes turns around and her eyes widen a bit.

I hold the flowers out towards her. The flowers were purple orchids.

"Henry," She looks up at me and then back at the flowers. I quickly look at them, too. "You didn't have to do this."

I shrug. "I wanted you to know that I am really sorry."

Charlotte takes the flowers out of my hand. "Thank you, Henry."

"So," I look at her eyes. "Do you forgive me?"

She nods. "Yes, I do." She smiles.

"Good," I turn to begin walking to our first class. "What did you think of _Notnatural_ last night?"

She gasps and begins to tell me her favorite parts of the episode.

* * *

I said I'd stay in my business and my business only.

That doesn't mean I will.

It's been two days since we made up.

It's been two days and she has only eaten one meal with me.

It's been two days and she is constantly on her phone.

She's always texting someone, she's always talking to someone, who would be talking to her all hours of the day.

But then back to what Ray said, maybe it's a bully.

Who would hate Charlotte so much to text her mean comments all day?

She has to be talking to more than one person.

Who are these people?

"Henry Hart,"

I look up from my Algebra 2 book. (btdubs we are sophomores) "Yes, Mrs. Watson?"

"Can you answer the problem on the board?" She asks sweetly, stepping away so I can see the math problem.

I actually look at it. "No, ma'am, I cannot."

Mrs. Watson rolls her eyes. "Pay attention, Mr. Hart." She turns around.

I feel someone slap my arm. I look to my right and see Charlotte.

"What's up with you?" She whispers.

I shrug and move away from her touch.

Shouldn't I be the one asking _her_ what's up?

But then again I'm supposed to be in my business and my business only.

* * *

I'm sitting at the round table in the Man Cave. I'm looking across the table to the phone.

The phone belongs to Charlotte.

Charlotte is not here, right now. Ray told her to go pick up sushi. I guess she accidently left her phone here, or maybe she left it to be free of the constant texts, or whatever, for at least fifteen minutes.

My hands are on the table, and my right hand is twitching.

Would it be so bad if I grabbed her phone and went through everything?

But it's just to look at the constant messages. That's it. That wouldn't be too terrible. Right?

I take the phone and pull it close to me. I press the button and the screen turns on.

"Woah," I actually say that out loud.

Her screen says she has 17 messages. I tap the screen so I could look at the messages.

Instead of that, numbers appear.

She has a password.

What the poo?!

"Hey, Ray!" I yell.

A few seconds later he hops into the room. "What up?"

"Do you know how to hack phones?"

He sits on the opposite side of the table. He looks up towards the ceiling with a thoughtful expression. "I don't think so."

"Does Schwoz know how?"

"Probably,"

"Where is he?"

"Maine,"

I look up and scrunch my eyebrows. "Maine? Why?"

Ray shrugs. "I didn't ask. I wasn't interested."

I sigh.

"Why do you need to…" He stops talking. He then gives me a look of disapproval. "Are you trying to hack Charlotte's phone?"

I set the phone on the table and push it away from me. "No,"

"Henry," Ray shakes his head. "If Charlotte needs help, she will ask for it. She is a big girl. She can take care of herself."

"Yeah, I know that-"

"Just wait a while before you do something crazy like this. Okay?" He says. "You could help her by looking at this but you'll lose her trust."

I groan and throw my head back. "Ugh! Why is friendship so hard?"

Ray shrugs. "That's why I have no friends,"

"What about Schwoz?"

"He is more like a pet."

"That's mean."

Ray sighs. "I guess so."

* * *

"What if your parents wake up in five minutes and go into your room and see you are not there?" Charlotte asks me.

She was pumping her legs back and forth. The swing, she was on, was going back and forth at a slow pace.

I was sitting in my swing, but I wasn't swinging. I was sitting and looking at the ground and twisting my feet around in the dirt.

"They will probably call me."

"And what will you tell them?"

"I am at Charlotte's house."

"Would they ground you?"

"Maybe,"

I look up from the ground towards the sky. The sky is blue, more like a dark blue. The stars seemed to multiply as I stared at them longer and longer.

Charlotte asked me to walk her home so I did. I decided to stay for a while. That was around seven hours ago.

We had walked to her backyard and begin sitting on the swing. We started talking and time sped by.

"Henry, do you ever think of weird things?" She asks me.

"Uh," I think about my answer. "I guess I do, sometimes. I don't really consider it weird but others could."

"Do your thoughts ever scare you? Like you didn't know you could actually go there."

I look from the sky to her. I watch her go back and forth.

"What have you been thinking about?" I ask her.

She stops suddenly and the drag of her feet on the ground scares me.

She's looking at the ground. She leans her head against the chain of the swing.

I reach over and poke her shoulder. "Hey, tell me."

She shrugs and looks over at me. "I don't know. You might take it wrong or you might think it's weird."

"I promise I won't." I tell her. "Okay?"

She keeps eye contact with me for a few seconds then sighs. "Alright,"

I nod and look in the other direction, waiting for her to say it.

"Have you ever wondered what it's like to hurt yourself?" Charlotte's question comes by surprise. Why this question?

"Like when you accidently run into the counter and feels like you've been shot," I say because what else am I supposed to say. "You should know how that feels."

"No," She takes a moment. "Like to purposely hurt yourself,"

"So self-harm?" I ask because I'm wondering why this question.

She nods. "Yeah,"

"I don't think I have. No." I say honestly. "Why? Have you?"

"Kind of," She says twisting around in the chair, like she's nervous.

"What have you been asking yourself about it?" I need to get her talking maybe I'll find out why she's thinking about this.

"Like what would it feel like, obviously." She almost seems to be smiling. "What object would I use to do this with? I could cut, I could burn myself, or I could even hit myself. Also, why would I do it? Like if I did something that was stupid, I'd viciously punch my thigh or something. Stuff like that."

I see her shrug.

"Oh stuff like that," I say because again what am I supposed to say.

I pull my phone from my pocket and look at the time. It's almost two in the morning.

"Char, I gotta go. It's really late."

Charlotte leans over and looks at my phone. Her eyebrows raise. "Oh, it is late."

I stand up and she does too.

I turn towards her. I grab her by her arm and pull her closer. I embrace her body and try to hold her tightly. She responds to the hug.

"What's this for?" She giggles.

"I just wanted a hug goodnight." I say.

Maybe if I hold her long enough and tight enough, she'll realize that what she's thinking about is ridiculous and sad and bad.

I release her and watch her walk in to the backdoor of her house. I walk around the house and head home.

* * *

 **Holy poo! The feedback for this story is crazy! 19 reviews and I just posted the second chapter?**

 **What is this?**

 **Now I'm scared that the story isn't going to be what you guys expected, in a bad way.**

 **Now I'm scared no one will like it!**

 **But thank you, really.**

 **Please review, follow and/or favorite.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

She's thinner. I can tell that already. Her pants have always bagged a bit, but that's how she likes them. But her pants bag too much, especially in the thighs.

I want to say something but I'm scared she'll get angry and shut me out completely.

She suddenly seems so fragile now, mentally and physically.

I don't like thinking of her as fragile because she isn't. She's always been so strong. She's been the person I usually complain to and cry to when stuff like this happens. She's supposed to be independent and know exactly what to do to fix the problem.

If she can't help herself, why do I think I can help her?

I'm not even nearly as levelheaded as she is.

Maybe I'm being too hard on myself. Maybe Charlotte's being too hard on herself, too.

I cross my arms on the table, in the Man Cave, and put my head on them. I close my eyes and try to think.

I try to think of how to help Charlotte. I try to think of what to write about for my paper in English.

"What's up with you?"

I hear Charlotte slide in next to me.

"I'm trying to think."

"Think about what?"

She was sitting closer than normal but I didn't mind. I almost wanted to lean closer to her.

"I don't know what to write about for English."

I feel her hand on my head. She runs her fingers through my hair a bit.

"I'm sorry."

I lean into the touch, silently telling her to continue playing with my hair.

"I don't mean to put any more stuff on your plate but,"

I groan into my arms. "What?"

"Bianca was asking about you."

I sigh, wanting to fall asleep.

"What did she have to say?"

"She asked me why you haven't been talking to her, why you haven't been responding to her text messages, and not waving at her when she waves at you."

I don't say anything.

"So why don't you do any of those things?" She asks me.

"I don't feel like it. Also, I don't have to." I say. "We aren't a thing."

"You could tell her that. So she doesn't feel like she is being lead on. It'll just hurt her feelings if you do that."

"Okay," I say. "I'll do that later."

"Are you really okay?" She asks.

"Yeah," I turn my head around to look at her.

She looked a little happier than yesterday. She looked pretty.

"I'm fine."

"You don't act it." Her voice was quiet and sweet.

This is where I should tell her she doesn't act like she's fine and we need acting lessons. But I don't. I just stare at her.

She looks behind her, then back at me. "What are you staring at?"

"You,"

"Why?"

"You're pretty."

Charlotte blushes and looks away from me. "Henry,"

"I mean it, Charlotte. You do."

"Well thank you."

The alarm for bad guys begins to ring.

She runs her fingers through my hair one last time before going to check on it.

I sigh and force myself to stand up.

* * *

"Tomorrow is Friday. Right?" I ask Charlotte.

"Well today is Thursday, so yes. Tomorrow is Friday."

"No need to be sassy."

She laughs. "Hurry, we need to get to Junk-n-Stuff."

"Calm down," I say waving her off. "I just need to find my math worksheet."

"You know if you put it in your binder, we wouldn't be standing here."

"Well if you had reminded me to put the worksheet in my binder, we really wouldn't be here. So technically this is your fault."

"Henry, it's-" Charlotte groans.

I look from my locker to her. She had stepped back a couple of steps. She was rubbing her right shoulder with her left hand.

"Stay out of my way," A male voice tells her.

"Sorry,"

The boy continues to walk away.

I step from my locker and starts walking towards him.

"Hey," I say loudly.

The boy turns around. He was about my size.

"What do you want?" He asks me, knowing exactly who I was speaking to.

"Apologize to the lady," I say gesturing to Charlotte.

"Why?" He asks me. "That girl was in my way."

I look over at Charlotte. She had wide eyes.

"There is no one in this hallway. How could she possibly be in your way?" I ask him, using hand gestures. "Now, please, apologize for being an asshole and we'll be finished with this."

The boy seemed to get angry at me calling him a name. He flares his nose. I gave him the I'm-tired-of-your-poop expression.

He sighs. "I apologize for bumping into you."

"Call her 'miss'," I tell him.

"I apologize for bumping into you, _miss_."

"Thank you," Charlotte says.

"You may go now."

He turns around and leaves.

I go back to my locker, finding the worksheet, and closing my locker. I start walking towards the main doors. When I notice Charlotte isn't walking beside me, I turn around.

"Charlotte, come on, dude. We wouldn't want to be late."

Charlotte looks at me with a smile and catches up. "Of course, we wouldn't."

* * *

 **This is a crap chapter but I just needed to get past a certain point.**

 **The next chapter will be totally better.**

 **Please review, follow, and/or favorite.**

 **Thank you for reading this crappy chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I lie on my bed, on my left side with my arms crossed. I'm staring in the direction of my knees but not really. I woke up earlier than I usually do.

My door opens.

"Henry, wake-"

Mom looks down and see me.

"Oh, you are already awake." She says. She pats my leg. "Come on. Get up and put some clothes on."

"I don't know if I can go to school today."

She puts her hands on her hips. "Why not?"

"I'm not really feeling okay."

Mom puts her hand to my forehead. "Well you don't have a forehead."

"Not in that way," I push her hand away and sit up. I try to sit up a little bit straight, but my shoulder feel like they weigh a millions pounds and I slump over. "My mind isn't feeling okay."

Mom sits on the bed and looks at me. It feels like she is really looking at me, trying to guess what's going on inside of my head. But how does one explain that nothing is really going on inside of my head, except constant worries.

"Henry, is something going on that you need to tell me about?" She asks.

I think about telling her about Charlotte.

"No," I say. "Yes. I don't know."

"Henry, I can't help you if you don't tell me anything."

I look at her face and can tell she is getting more worried.

I shrug because I'm sure what else to do.

She sighs and runs her hand through my hair. "How about you stay home today? You can really think through what you're worried it about and if it's still worrying you tonight tell me."

"Okay,"

Mom stands up. She stops at the door and looks back at me.

"Just get some rest, alright?"

I lay back onto the bed. "Okay,"

She leaves and closes the door.

* * *

Around 11:30 I wake up for the second time today. I look up towards my ceiling for a couple minutes, and then throw my cover off of me. I slip out of the bed, unplug my phone from the charger, and walk out of my room.

* * *

I find myself standing in the living room, looking around and not knowing what to do. The room seemed so empty and quiet without the rest of the family, especially Piper.

I turn to walk to the kitchen.

I unlock my phone and see that I have five text messages.

MESSAGE ONE

Jasper: Are you coming to school today?

MESSAGE TWO

Jasper: Duuuude, are you just coming in late?

MESSSAGE THREE

Charlotte: Are you okay? You aren't responding to any of Jasper's texts.

MESSAGE FOUR

Charlotte: Are you coming to work today? If you aren't, do you think Ray would ask for me to fill in for you?

MESSAGE FIVE

Oliver: Do you have my can of walnuts?

I laugh a little bit and respond to Oliver first.

After responding to texts, I grab a bottle of water from the refrigerator and the grape bag. I sit at the kitchen table to eat and drink.

My phone vibrates. I look at it. It's text from Charlotte.

Charlotte: Okay. I'll be at your house around 4 to walk with you.

I decide not to respond.

I pop a grape into my mouth and lean back in the chair.

I wonder if Charlotte has eaten today. I wonder if she is still thinking about self-mutilation and what it feels like.

I lean over to put my head on the table and put another grape into my mouth.

Hopefully, she hasn't found out what it feels like. Hopefully, she is has forgotten about it. Hopefully, she eats.

I roll my eyes at my own stupid thoughts. I need to be realistic about this.

Charlotte is still doing all of those things.

Should I be telling an adult about this by now? Should I?

Maybe they'd know what to do.

Should I wait until the problem gets worse?

How do I know if it's not already gotten worse?

Charlotte's so good at hiding things and I'm so bad at noticing things.

* * *

"Henry!" Charlotte continuously knocks on the door. "Henry, come on!"

I look towards the door from my comfortable sitting position on the couch.

Should I stay or should I go? Ha.

I sink even more into the couch, not wanting to go and leave the comfort of the empty house. But the constant knocking was annoying.

I push myself off the couch and inch my way towards the door.

I unlock and open it.

Charlotte was standing there, with a cheerful look on her face.

It was funny to me, to see her like this, because her face contradicted everything else.

Her mouth is smiling and telling me she's happy but her eyes seem dark when they should glow. Her skin should glow but it seems dull. Her hair should be shiny and bouncy but it seems to just be there.

I know it's mean to think these things of your friend.

"Dude," She says putting her hands on her hips. "You aren't even ready! You're still wearing your pajamas."

I look down. "Yeah,"

Charlotte rolls her eyes and begins pushing me.

"Go, go, go." She says. "Get ready so we won't be late."

I turn away from her and head up the stairs.

"You're too bossy for me."

* * *

"So what did you do in school today?"

Charlotte was walking beside me, with her hands in her jacket pockets.

"Uh," She was looking around at our surroundings, which were not that interesting since it was just houses and yards. "I watched a movie in Ancient History, it was pretty nice. In English, we didn't really do anything, because, you know, Mr. Walken is a nut job. Math was whatever. And I wanted to stab myself in Spanish."

I would've laughed at the ending sentence, but what if she really wanted to.

"Mm," I say. "I watched TV all day."

She smiles and nods. "Very productive, I see."

I don't respond.

"Why did you stay home today?" She asks.

"I didn't feel well."

"You said you weren't sick though."

"My brain didn't feel well."

This makes her look up at me.

"Like you had a headache or something was bothering you…" She says, trying to get inside my head.

"Like something was bothering me," I nod.

She slightly kicks my shoes with her shoe. "What's going on, Henry?"

"Nothing,"

Charlotte huffs out a breath. "Why are you lying?"

"I'm not."

"You just…" She stops talking and shakes her head. "But you said something was bothering you."

"Just because something is bothering me doesn't mean that something is going on."

Charlotte stops walking. I stop and turn back to her.

"That's exactly what it means!" She says, loudly.

I groan and let my head fall back. I close my eyes.

"I can handle it. Okay?"

"Okay,"

I turn around. "Now let's go."

* * *

"I hate stakeouts." Charlotte says as she leans against me.

I sit, still in my slouching position and try to pay attention to the computer's monitor.

"Do you parents know you won't be coming home tonight?" Ray asks.

"I told my parents I'm staying at Jasper's."

"I told my parents that I'm house sitting for a friend."

Ray nods. "Good lies,"

We stare at the computer screen in silence for a couple minutes.

"Henry," Charlotte whispers in my ear.

"Mm?"

"I feel lightheaded."

I try to look at her but can't from this position.

"Are you sure you're just sleepy?"

She nods. "My head is spinning."

"Do you feel like you're going to vomit?" I ask. I turn and hold her out in front of me, by the shoulders.

Her head seems to just hang there.

"No," She says before shaking her head. "Wait, yes."

"Ray,"

He turns around. "What?"

"Something is up with Char."

Ray bends in front of her. "Charlotte, can you open your eyes for me?"

Charlotte turns towards him. Her eyelids barely lift.

"Am I doing it?"

"Ray, what's wrong with her?" I ask the monotone voice I've been using all day seems to have vanished.

"I'm tired." She says. Her body begins to lean forward.

"No, Charlotte, you gotta stay awake for us. Okay?"

Charlotte groans. "I c-can't."

Ray stands up. "She needs to go to a hospital."

"No!" She yells. "N-no. I can't."

"Charlotte, something is seriously wrong with you. You _need_ to go to the hospital." I tell her.

"You'll get angry."

Ray picks Charlotte up and walks to the tubes. I follow him.

"Stand under the tube," He tells me.

I do.

Ray stands Charlotte next to me. I wrap my arms around and try to keep her up.

"I'll meet you at the car."

I nod.

Ray presses a button and the tube comes down.

"Henry, no." Her head was in the crook my neck.

"Up the tube."

* * *

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